BIW tests destroyer in shipbuilder's first sea trials in two years

Courtesy / Bath Iron Works The future USS Daniel Inouye, a destroyer built at Bath Iron Works, is the first BIW ship to head down the Kennebec River in two years.

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By Renee Cordes

Bath Iron Works on Wednesday started sea trials on the future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), the first destroyer built at the shipyard to head down the Kennebec River in two years.

Sea trials, formally called builders trials, are conducted when shipbuilding has been completed and allow the customer — in this case the U.S. Navy — to see how a new vessel performs.

"This achievement is even more rewarding as it comes during a year of significant challenge for our shipyard and the entire country," Bath Iron Works said in a prepared statement. "This accomplishment has been realized because of the fortitude and skill of our employees who worked together to make this important goal a reality."

BIW said the sea trials just launched require protecting all passengers against transmission of COVID-19 while onboard.

"This challenge was met with an extensive plan and protocols that mirror the robust safety measures taken in the shipyard every day to keep our employees safe," BIW said.

Bath Iron Works is owned by General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD), a Reston, Va.-based defense contractor. BIW employs 6,500 people and plans to accelerate hiring in 2021, with a projected hiring goal of 2,650.

The future USS Daniel Inouye is a 510-foot-long, Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, named for the late U.S. senator from Hawaii.

BIW said the warship represents the shipyard's future, not just because the vessel is an important and much-needed asset for the Navy fleet, but also because it demonstrates the commitment to increase its shipbuilding rate to two ships a year.

Inouye, a World War II veteran and member of the Democratic Party, served in the U.S. Senate from 1963 until his death in 2012.

BIW spokesman David Hench told Mainebiz that while there is some variation in shipbuilding completion times, the yard's last Arleigh Burke-class destroyer completed sea trials in March 2018 and was delivered to the Navy about three months later. BIW has built over 30 of the destroyers since launching the first one in 1989.

While figures are not available on the cost of building individual vessels, the future Daniel Inouye is part of a $3.9 billion Navy contract awarded to BIW in September 2018.

Hench added that the ship most recently under construction at the Bath shipyard is the future USS William Charette (DDG 130), with four more under contact after that.